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Na'vi
The Na'vi (English: The People) are a race of sentient extraterrestrial humanoids who inhabit the lush jungle moon of Pandora. Humans are known to refer to them as "Blues," "Savages," "The locals" or "The natives." Parker Selfridge at one point in the movie refers to them as "Blue monkeys." Description ]] :The indigenous Na'vi are, on average, three meters (10 feet) tall with smooth cyan-colored skin, large amber eyes, and long, sweeping tails. They are the only known extraterrestrial species discovered to have human-like consciousness and intelligence. They have developed a sophisticated culture based on a profound spiritual connection to other life on their moon, each other, and an encompassing "spirit" they call Eywa. Each Na’vi is born with three fingers and one thumb on each hand and four toes on each foot, unlike the Avatars of the Humans who have four fingers and one thumb on each hand and five toes on each foot because of the fusion of DNA. :The Na'vi seem to have a different evolutionary ancestor to other creatures that share two pairs of eyes and three pairs of arms-legs-or-wings, but they have a Queue which provides the ability to make a bond with the environment. Habitat and Range :Various biomes of Pandora. Population concentrated in rainforest regions. Outlying clans have been detected on each continent and in subarctic, swampland, and mountainous regions.James Cameron's Avatar: An Activist Survival Guide pg 26; by Maria Wilhelm & Dirk Mathison :Some Na'vi clans, including the Omaticaya, live in tremendously large ancient trees they call Kelutral, or "Hometree." Physiology * Smooth skin is iridescent, cyan color. Long tails. High cheekbones, feline-like ears and nose as well as large golden eyes. Bioluminescent markings that seem to follow the path of the circulatory or nervous system aid in identification and mood display. Average lifespan is unknown but it is believed to be similar to humans. * Despite skin color, Na'vi have red blood. * Waist is narrow and elongated. The shoulders are very wide, creating a V-shaped upper back. The neck is long and body slender. Musculature sharply defined, giving no sense of emaciation despite thin proportions.James Cameron's Avatar: An Activist Survival Guide pg 27; by Maria Wilhelm & Dirk Mathison * Skeleton is reinforced with naturally occurring carbon fiber. Average male is 3 meters (9.8 feet) tall, females slightly smaller.James Cameron's Avatar: An Activist Survival Guide pg 26; by Maria Wilhelm & Dirk Mathison * Tail that can be moved and controlled like any other appendage and is used primarily for balance. It is frequently used to express emotion and is the basis for the Na'vi saying: "Watch your tail, Child!" * Average male has a mass around 162 kg. In Pandoran gravity (0.8 Earth g) they weigh 1271.38 N or 286 lb (compared to 1589.22 N or 357 lb in Earth's gravity.) Female mass slightly less due to lighter build and slightly shorter stature. * Three long fingers plus opposable thumb on hands; four toes on feet. (It should be noted that the Na'vi/human hybrid Avatars have five digits on both hands and feet.) * Highly evolved nervous system includes a "Queue" which resembles a long, rather ostentatious hair braid. This seemingly conventional braid actually sheathes a remarkably intricate system of neural tendrils that can be connected to similar structures of other life-forms. See Queue.James Cameron's Avatar: An Activist Survival Guide pg 28; by Maria Wilhelm & Dirk Mathison * They have roughly four times the strength of the average human.James Cameron's Avatar: An Activist Survival Guide pg 27; by Maria Wilhelm & Dirk Mathison * Reproduction mechanics (e.g. physical coupling) are similar to humans and other Terran mammals. However, it should be noted that although Navi female have breast, they are not placental mammals and, as such, the actual internal reproduction biology is quite different from Terran mammals.James Cameron's Avatar: An Activist Survival Guide pg 30; by Maria Wilhelm & Dirk Mathison The Na'vi are fundamentally different from all other Pandoran mammals: * They only have four limbs, while every other medium-to-large-bodied animals have a total of six limbs. * They have only a single pair of eyes, while most other beings have two pairs of eyes, one primary set and another, smaller set. * All other animals have two nerve clusters extending backward from the head, while the Na'vi only have a single nerve cluster located in their queue. * Many animals possess twin air intakes on the shoulders that supply air and keep their internal body temperature down, while the Na'vi possess no such structures. So we may conclude that the Na'vi either diverged a long time ago from the common Pandoran evolution tree, or they may be outsiders to this world. This latter theory is supported by the fact that DNA/transcriptase fusion is possible between humans and Na'vi, as well as the many cultural aspects they share, such as kissing and the covering of the genital areas. The presence of the Na'vi queue would appear to indicate an adaptive evolution process which would contradict the "outsider" theory. (However, it could also be sophisticated biological genetic engineering.) Language Main Article: Na'vi Language The language was created by Paul Frommer, a professor at USC with a doctorate in linguistics. There are about 1000 words in the Na'vi language, some of which were created by the simple concept of compounding, which is simply joining the words together to create a definition of a noun. This is a common concept in American aboriginal languages and is likely why it was adapted for Na'vi. Diet The Na'vi are an Omnivorous species. They eat meat as demonstrated by their hunting practices and pronounced canines but have also been seen to forage, demonstrating their consumption of plants and other producers. Their society includes hunters and gatherers with incipient agriculture.James Cameron's Avatar: An Activist Survival Guide pg 26; by Maria Wilhelm & Dirk Mathison Clothing Little apparel is worn by the Na'vi. Cloth, most likely woven from native flora of the planet is the basic garment worn by all Na'vi. It is possible that very little clothing is worn by the Na'vi because it is simply what is needed for the Na'vi to work and live taking minimally from the environment. Clothes appear to also show the ranking of one in the hierarchy of a clan. For example, the Omaticaya clan leader, Eytukan, wore a garment made of brilliant or precious materials in comparison to a simple clothing piece worn by a other clan members. Accessories are added to a Na'vi's attire as he or she moves up in the clan hierarchy. For example, Jake Sully, as an apprentice clan member, wore only an undecorated loincloth; as he learned more about the Na'vi culture, however, he wore armbands and necklaces to display his ranking.The Art of Avatar: James Cameron's Epic Adventure pg 55; by Maria Wilhelm & Dirk Mathison Society & Culture The Na'vi are humanoid creatures that live in various territorial clans across Pandora. Though their culture is essentially paleolithic, they have an egalitarian social organization, unusual in a society at such a stage in their development. A premium is placed upon young men and women growing up to become exceptional hunters and possibly warriors, as is necessary due to the nature of the Pandoran environment and the level of Na'vi technological advancement. The populations of the Na'vi and other species may be controlled by the sentient intelligence they worship as "Eywa". They choose to live in harmony and natural equilibrium with their surroundings. If they become too numerous, Eywa may devise a way to limit their numbers before they cause an ecological imbalance, for she maintains the balance of life. Over the millenia, the Na'vi have developed a healthy respect and reverence for their surrounding environment. In return, Eywa may have affected the environment to provide them with sufficient food and shelter, creatures to ride for ground and air transportation, and an ambient, comfortable temperature throughout the different biomes of Pandora. Oddly, there do not seem to be many harmful or irritating insects and disease organisms, but whether or not this is intentional will require further research. Small, flying creatures (insects?) are shown in various scenes. The Na'vi have failed to develop tools and weapons for purposes beyond possible primitive warfare with the surrounding clans and hunting/survival, a anomaly stemming perhaps from the fertility of the planet. For a race that is so connected to all other creatures, warfare would seem unlikely. There was no hesitation to go to many other clans to ask for help. They do, however, have a rich handicraft tradition and engage in extensive body decoration signifying both rank, activity, and individual tastes. With the caution that it is perhaps spurious to make cross cultural comparisons across star systems, the Na'vi are comparable to now extinct pre-bronze age hunter-gatherer societies that formed in some pre-colonial African, American aboriginal, and Australian indigenous tribes (with trace similarities to the Norse culture of northern Europe before they developed agriculture.) Lacking any tradition of formal science as Earth people know it, they experience Eywa as an all-knowing, all-powerful entity, and have possibly developed a complex animistic religion based upon their interactions with Eywa, and centered around the "Tree of Souls" and the "Tree of Voices", two of many sacred spiritual locations found across Pandora that provide access to the Pandoran neural network. Commentary and Additional Info Queue Main Article: Queue Na'vi have a queue, originating at the back of the head and hanging down to or below the waist. Braided inside hair for added protection the queue is an external bundle of nerve endings that allows them to tap into the collective, planetary psionic emanations of Eywa, enabling them to "commune" with the planet's flora and fauna. While not adding to intelligence, it enables them to share a deep connection and even communicate telepathically with the tree of souls, and any animals with a similar nerve cluster. The Na'vi call it Tsahaylu, or "the bond". When two Pandoran organisms with nerve clusters similar to this engage in Tsahaylu, they gain the ability to share memories and information, and the Na'vi have a special trait that allows them to use the mind-meld to feel as/what their mount does, and as well enables them to move as one under the control of the Na'vi, be it a Banshee/Ikran or Direhorse/Pal'i. This trait is only negated during mating (see below). Human Relations When the Human race begins to search Pandora for valuable minerals, the Na'vi are appalled and angered by the destruction of their jungle home for roads, human bases, and strip mines. They see no need for technology, and hence the damage done by humans in the pursuit of underground minerals seems like nothing more than senseless destruction that violates the basic tenets of their religion. They would look to Eywa for help, but their religion teaches that Eywa cares not for the existence of any one creature, but only for the balance of nature. Mating .]] The Na'vi are monogamous creatures who mate for life. The mechanics of reproduction are similar to that of humans and other Terran mammals. However, their unique physiology provides the Na'vi with a level of intimacy unknown on Earth. Cultural anthropologists believe that when an appropriate mate has been selected (which can take many years), the male and female Na'vi will connect queues (called Tsahaylu) to create an emotional bond that lasts a lifetime. The intertwining of queues is both highly erotic and profoundly spiritual, but does not in itself lead to reproduction. Traditionally, once a Na'vi male has passed the tests on the path to manhood and has been accepted into the clan as an adult, he is not only allowed to make his bow from the wood of the Hometree, but he is also expected to choose his woman. After the woman has been chosen, the new couple are mated before Eywa. Jake Sully chooses Neytiri to become his mate, and she accepts and mates with him under the Tree of Voices following his acceptance into the Omaticaya clan as 'One of the People'. Once Tsahaylu is made between the couple, the ultimate in intimacy, pleasure that is unfathomable to humans, causes the somewhat unwilling sharing of the couple's good memories, and is a sign of Eywa's acceptance. If a couple can be foreseen to not have a pleasant or happy future, Eywa has been known to reverse the feeling produced by making Tsahaylu, a sign to the couple that mating would only, in simple words, ruin their lives together. Therefore, this process prevents the what would become an unsuccessful lifelong mating. After the resulting embracing and kissing, the couple is sent to sleep by Eywa, and the two dream of hints of what their future will be together. The couple will experience the pleasure of Tsahaylu from the moment of connection until they awaken and have completed mating. When they disconnect and return to the clan, they are mated for life.James Cameron's Avatar: An Activist Survival Guide Known Clans The Na'vi have no far-reaching political structures on the scale of nation-states, but are organized into relatively structured clans. Occasionally different clans from far-reaching areas will cooperate in times of great crisis. The only known event that has caused all clans to join together is when they are led by a "Toruk Makto", a Na'vi that has managed to ride and control a Great Leonopteryx, uniting all clans under him. By the events of the Avatar film in 2154, this has only ever happened five times, and the last Toruk Makto lived four generations ago. Pandora is largely a jungle world, and thus many Na'vi tribes are similar to the Omaticaya clan that lives near the RDA mining operations at Hell's Gate. Evidence on other clans is sketchy, however, and it is vaguely implied that clans from other biomes may display some regional variation in culture. *Omaticaya Clan - the jungle-dwelling clan that lives in Hometree, nearest the RDA's mining operations. *Tipani Clan - similar to the Omaticaya, featured in the video game. *Horse Clan of the Plains - live in the plains which are beyond the jungles, within traveling distance of the Omaticaya. While the Omaticaya ride Direhorses when necessary, the Plains Riders have heavily based their way of life around riding them. They seem to favor facial piercing with bone somewhat more than the Omaticaya. *Ikran Clans of the Eastern Sea - live on the coastal cliffs, within traveling distance of the Omaticaya. While the Plain Clans are more reliant on direhorses than the Omaticaya, the Ikran (banshee) Clan is more dependent on banshees, who make it possible to reach otherwise inaccessible cliffs. While the Omaticaya decorate their bodies with stripes of warpaint when going into battle, Ikran Clan appears to wear body-paint much more often, and far more of it. It is possible that this is for status reasons: the female lead warrior of this clan was decorated in large patches of red body-paint in complex shapes. When Jake Sully, as the sixth Toruk Makto, rallied "all the clans" to aid the Omaticaya in driving off the RDA and protecting the Tree of Souls, fourteen clans were said to answer the call (since Jake mentions fifteen clans, counting the Omaticaya in). Thus there are at least that many clans that the Omaticaya are within traveling distance of. Reunion of clans Toruk Makto has the ability to unite the clans in times of great sorrow. Including Jake, only 6 Na'vi have become Toruk Makto in history, but it is unknown how many reunions there have been. See Also *Ikran Makto *Toruk Makto *Blue Flute *Su'shiri t'acto sa *Tsahik *Tsahaylu References Unless otherwise noted, information is taken from the motion picture Avatar. Where details conflict between the film and printed material, the film is deemed accurate. de:Na'vi nl:Na'vi pl:Na'vi Category:Na'vi Category:Species Category:Pandora Category:Creatures Category:Citations needed